South Korean government trying to control export to North Korea

The communist North test-fired seven missiles earlier this month, prompting the U.N. Security Council to adopt a resolution barring U.N. member states from dealings with North Korea in material or technology for missiles or weapons of mass destruction.

Photo: South Korean government trying to control export to North Korea

In e-mails sent to some 80,000 companies over the weekend, South Korea said: "Our firms should be extra careful not to export strategic materials to North Korea illegally or either through a third country," according to an official at the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy, the AP reports.

The warning "doesn't indicate any additional move, but was just to remind the firms" of South Korea's export controls of such materials to the North, the official said on condition of anonymity citing office policy.

South Korea has been controlling exports of strategic materials to the North as part of a global campaign to limit international trade in materials that can be used to produce such weapons.

The South has become the North's second-largest trading partner after embarking on historic reconciliation efforts with its longtime rival following the first-and-only summit of the two countries' leaders in 2000. China is North Korea's largest trade partner.